IS THIS THE NEW NORMAL?

Is this the new normal?

Disclaimer: I am speaking as a person who stayed in MSU before as a student and now as an ordinary citizen still in MSU.

Mindanao State University, called as the “Melting Pot of the South”, is a powerhouse institution producing globally competitive graduates and citizens held with high regard in the society. It is a place where Muslims, Lumads and Christians set aside and respect cultural and religious differences as they join hands for the love of education. Graduates of this institution are not just simply called as alumni, but we proudly call ourselves as survivors.

Telling someone that you’re studying in MSU will always be a good conversation starter. Is it safe there? How does it feel to live with Muslims? Have you converted to Islam? Do you know any M’ranao words or sentences? And the list goes on. And personally, I feel so proud every time my beloved alma mater gets the spotlight that it deserves, well on most days. For most MSUans, this is normal.

I can still remember that quiet night in August 2012 when suddenly a loud series of gunshot was heard. I was on my second year that time. Everybody inside the cottage panicked. “Go inside your rooms, go inside your rooms!”, it  was the command our older cottagemates were giving. The morning after that nightmare, MSU became a ghost town. The University Peace Keeping Force (PKF) along with military forces were dispatched all around the campus. Later did we know that there was a shoot out near the university’s main entrance. Nobody dared to go out. There was no official memorandum but its like the students and teachers had some sort of telepathic agreement that classes will be suspended until that week was done. After that it was hard to pretend like everything will be back to being normal. The semester ended, and the some students transferred. Time passed, and everything became normal.

News and rumors of abduction, kidnapping and even rape were very common, some of them produced a body, some of them remained as rumors. But staying in this university, we need to pretend like we’re perfectly fine. And then that pretention became our normal.

And then May 23 came like any other day. It was the last week of classes, majority of the students were busy completing their requirements so that they can go home. When an abnormal, yet unfamiliar sound was heard in some places of the campus – gunshots. Text messages kept coming telling us to stay in our cottages, dorms and boarding houses. As the night grew deeper, the gunshots grew louder and more frequent. Now with sounds of tanks and bombs. It was not normal.

That was the time I started putting my trust in our Peace Keeping Force and the military forces inside the campus. Our school was a fortress. The PKF and military presence became more noticeable. Officials and other LGUs aided the students as they evacuated the campus. It was similar to what happened in Exodus. And it was not normal.

More or less 100 days later after May 23, Marawi City is still on the headlines, and MSU decides to open up its doors to start the semester. Students were hesitant to go back to MSU, their parents as well were hesitant. The sense of worry and asking the “what ifs” were very normal.

One thing led to another, and courage prevailed, or maybe it was just a false sense of courage. MSU is now in “normal” operation. The conflict 6 kilometers of the campus is not done yet, but the AFP assures us that we are safe. That we can go back to our “normal” state that we were before May 23.

But until now gunshots, airstrikes and bombs can still be heard, sometimes they seem louder and  nearer, and it seems like they won’t stop. It’s terrorizing, waking up because your house is shaking, and sleeping to the sound of gunshots. Sometimes we wonder when everything seems quiet and why there are no helicopters and jets in the skies. Have we absorbed this abnormal situation as our new normal?

And as of now, we're constantly receiving messages regarding planned attacks and invasion. 

So tell me, should this set like concrete and be our new normal?